Read Online The Billionbear's Bride: BBW Bear Shifter BWWM Paranormal Romance by Zoe Chant - Free Book Online Page A

the kitchen with her presence," replied Bruce, leaning over to kiss Violet on the cheek, to the giggling amusement of their guests. "That's all I ask." His lips brushed across her skin, leaving a fire in their wake. Even though it was an act, Violet couldn't hold back the smile that split her face in half.
    Wanda sat back with a satisfied sigh. "I wanted to finish it all since it's so good, but there's just too much food here."
    Bruce smiled with pride. "Save some room—there's dessert coming."
    All the women groaned.
    "I don't know if I can take it," said Wanda.
    "Dessert doesn't go to your stomach, right?" Jana asked her with a playful elbow to the side. "It's a whole different food group. That's why there's always room for it."
    "It was Violet's idea," added Bruce.
    "It's Mom's apple pie—or at least I hope it is," she admitted shyly.
    Jana's eyebrows flew up. "Did you find the recipe?"
    “No—but I guessed.” Violet glanced toward Bruce. “I described it to him—the woodsy flavor, do you remember that?”
    Jana looked wistful. “That was the best part. I’ve never tasted it in any other apple pie. Or apple anything .”
    “Bruce thought it might be rosemary. And I do, too; it smelled just right when it was in the oven.”
    Her sister’s eyes were suspiciously misty. Violet retrieved the pie and sliced it carefully, as carefully as if it really were a long-lost relic from their parents’ past. As she passed a slice to Jana, she hurried to add, not wanting to get her hopes up, “It might not be exactly the same, let me know …”
    Jana waved her concerns away. “Even if it’s not the same, I’m sure it’s really good.”
    Finally Violet sat down with her own slice, and took a tentative bite.
    It was like falling into a memory. Violet closed her eyes. The herbaceous flavor of the rosemary with the apples was unlike anything she’d ever tasted before—except for one dish: Rita Simmons's apple pie. She could feel her mother’s warm kitchen around her, a cool breeze coming in through the open window. For a moment suspended in time, she felt sixteen again. Oh, how she had complained then. Complained about the flour dusting her hands that got all over her clothes, complained about the sweltering heat of the oven, complained about not being able to go out with her friends because Mama insisted on family lunch after church on Sundays.
    Violet wanted to yell at her younger self and tell her how much she didn’t understand, how she didn’t appreciate what she had. It wasn’t until after she passed that Violet was forced to understand all the ways her mother had provided for them and taken care of them, now that she had to shoulder the burden herself.
    What she wouldn’t give to have her back.
    Jana’s sigh pulled her back in to the present moment. When Violet opened her eyes, a tear slipped down her face.
    Bruce’s calloused thumb brushed across her cheekbone, wiping away the tear. She tried to blink the rest away.  He was looking at her with such gentleness, such care in his clear blue eyes, she could almost believe—
    “ Aww ,” said Jana softly—never afraid to irreverently interrupt a moment.
    Violet broke her gaze away from Bruce with a laugh. “Look at me, getting all sentimental.” His hand slipped to her shoulder, which he squeezed and stroked comfortingly.
    “That’s Mama’s apple pie, all right,” confirmed Jana, with a watery smile of her own. “Now we just need some ice cream to go with it.”
    “Next time,” Violet promised. A peace brimmed inside her like she hadn’t experienced in years—the peace of her mother’s presence.
    After dessert, and amid a chorus of contented post-dinner groans, she packed up some of the pie for Jana, and sent them her and Wanda both home with plenty of leftovers. Wanda stayed to talk with Bruce about some work business while Violet walked Jana out to her car.
    Jana sighed, a mischievous look entering her eye. “After that meal, the only thing I